Municipalities in the Puebla metropolitan area must work on regulatory improvements: COE

Puebla, Pue. The Council of Business Organizations (COE) urged the municipalities surrounding Puebla to submit regulatory improvement plans, as they have not yet seen any concrete actions to help the private sector streamline investment project processing.

César Bonilla Yunes, president of the organization, said that the mayors are approaching eight months in office and have yet to see any permits being issued for projects that have been filed for more than nine months.

He considered that the very short three-year period requires municipalities to draw up "a roadmap to set goals, so the development plans they prepare must be submitted immediately, indicating the regulatory improvement strategy."

He indicated that municipalities are missing out on opportunities for economic development by failing to assist business owners in the processing of construction, land use, and operating licenses .

With the exception of Puebla, the 17 localities that make up the metropolitan area must accelerate their work on regulatory improvement plans, he added.

Bonilla Yunes considered it important to strengthen regulatory improvements because 80% of businesses are micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises, and it still takes time to complete the necessary procedures to open one in municipalities surrounding the city of Puebla.

Excessive red tape

He explained that there is an "excessive" amount of red tape for MSMEs , which is not being resolved in municipal offices in the metropolitan area, because some requirements can be completed online rather than at the counter.

He reiterated that, since 70% of economic activity is concentrated in the metropolitan area, where the automotive and textile industries, such as Volkswagen de Mexico, are located, it is important for city governments to focus on working with private enterprise.

He considered that entrepreneurs, through their various organizations, cannot be excluded from the development of the metropolitan area, because they have a broader perspective on where the municipalities where their factories or businesses are located must move.

He said that investors won't arrive in the municipalities on their own, unless authorities have a clear understanding of what types of projects they can attract based on the characteristics of each territory.

He mentioned that there are areas for improvement, but it goes hand in hand with the authorities understanding that they must improve this issue and security, especially in commercial and manufacturing areas, since companies want at least that guarantee.